an exploration of food as celebration

It’s officially been spring for a few weeks now, but it really has not felt even remotely spring-like yet. Until this weekend. The sun decided to finally shine for more than a few fleeting moments, and the temperature crawled it’s way (just barely) past the 60 degree mark.

I took a trip to the Waverly Farmer’s Market for a research project I’m doing in my Food Politics class, and couldn’t help but notice all of the baby blossoms that were making their presence known at so many of the stands.

Passover began this past Friday, which means no bread for me until next Saturday night. No bread, no pasta (or noodles of any kind!), no rice, no beans, no corn, no baked goods no…actually wait I think I got it all. All of these lovely foods that normally comprise a fair portion of my preferred diet (see previous post) fall into this category of chametz, which refers to anything leavened and/or grain-based. Instead, there’s cardboard matzah, an unleavened “bread” product that pays homage to how the Jews did not have enough time to wait for bread to rise when they were busy escaping slavery. Continue reading →

Some people call Disney World the “Happiest Place on Earth.” I have to politely disagree with those people. I’ve been to Disney World, but I was definitely happier roaming through the aisles of La Grande Épicerie in Paris. Which is where I decided to spend my final spring break of college. Call me crazy for choosing a food-centric Eurotrip with my mother over lazing around on a beach all day, but the only regret I have about my trip was getting on the plane back to New York earlier today.

It’s become a tradition of sorts that every time I come home from school, at least one morning is dedicated to the hol(e)y breakfast grail that is the bagel. More specifically, the bagel with lox and all the necessary accompaniments (cream cheese, red onion, tomato, capers). This tradition has mostly arisen as a result of the fact that I usually come home with an extreme craving for this exact breakfast. The ability to find such a perfect specimen of a breakfast item outside of the tri-state area can be a challenge, most often due to subpar bagels. As such, I see no harm in satisfying my bagel-hunger upon each return home. Continue reading →

I have a confession to make. I’m obsessed with soup. Absolutely and utterly head over heels in love with the idea of snuggling up with a warm bowl of goodness. If I had to eat one food and one food only for the rest of my life, it would be soup. And that’s saying a lot, because I like a lot of foods.

I can’t really tell you when, how, or why exactly my love affair with soup truly started, but here are a few things that I do know that are what I believe make soup the best meal on the planet:

I feel like peanut butter sandwiches sometimes get a bad rap. They’re usually seen as the most disappointing of the elementary school lunchbox sandwiches, or what college students have to resort to making themselves for dinner because they’re 1) not responsible enough to remember to buy groceries and 2) broke college students.

Breakfast and I have a love/hate relationship. And by that I mean that I love breakfast foods, but I hate eating in the morning. Okay so hate is a strong word, but I thoroughly do not enjoy eating so long as the numbers on the clock are followed by “AM.” I much prefer to start my day with a good, strong cup of coffee and then indulge in a hybrid breakfast/lunch type of meal once the hunger pangs start to strike at about noon. Basically I just want to eat brunch every day.

Such was not always the case. In fact, growing up, breakfast used to look a little something like this: